No plans to exit India business, says Franklin Templeton

MUMBAI: A letter from Franklin Templeton president Sanjay Sapre, issued on Friday, said the fund house has no plans to exit its India operations. Franklin Templeton is a US-headquartered global asset manager with $1.5 trillion in assets under management.

Media reports recently suggested that Franklin Templeton had sought discussions with the Indian Ambassador to the US over the Securities and Exchange Board of India (Sebi) investigation into the six wound up debt schemes of the asset management company. According to the reports, Franklin Templeton had threatened to exit India if it was not given a fair hearing.

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"We were early entrants in the Indian mutual fund industry and have remained a part of the industry even while many other global asset managers decided to leave. Please let me assure you, we have no plans to exit our India business. Any speculation suggesting otherwise, or any rumours around sale of our business in India are incorrect and simply that - rumours," the letter said.

The letter, however, did not deny reports of discussions with Indian authorities. "Our engagement with government authorities, in India and globally, is also something we, and many companies do, as a matter of course. We have endeavoured to keep all stakeholders, including the relevant government and diplomatic authorities, appropriately informed of developments, and will continue to do so," it said.

The letter added that fund house had the greatest respect and full confidence in Sebi. The NAVs of all six schemes have exceeded their closing value on 23 April 2020 and all are now cash positive, it said.

The six debt schemes of Franklin Templeton Mutual Fund with assets of around ₹26,000 crore were frozen on 23 April, 2020 after they faced unprecedented redemptions. The schemes were known to invest in relatively risky debt to get high returns.

As of February this year, the fund house was managing around ₹60,000 crore of assets in India, and ₹1,874 crore of cash was available for distribution to investors from the six schemes as of 31 March, 2021. Around ₹9,122 crore was distributed to investors in February.